Never to Be
by The Tri
Summary: A pairing that would never be. Tien x 18, strange eh?


"What is this noise?" you might be wondering. "A Tien and 18 fic? That's silly and would never happen!" bleh you may have a point but who cares? Just read and discover why these two could have had something, and no this one wont have a happy ending because as we all know she ends up with Krillin. Id also like to state that I am a big Tien fan :p  
  
Also bare with me, I have not seen the Android saga in over a year and my memory has problems some times ^^;  
  
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Never to Be  
  
Chapter 1  
  
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'What was going on? This cant really be happening…can it? We were so close…so close to being free.   
  
So close to finally having what we desired the most for so long! Why couldn't we have lived a normal life? Why did he have to make us what we are?! Who is that? What is he saying? No…it doesn't matter. Cell has already got 17 and now he's right in front of me. There's no escape…no hope. But that voice…its so clear and strong…its saying…Run?'  
  
18 stared blankly ahead as a bright yellow flash drove Cell deep into the ground. She quickly looked up to see who fired the blast. It was a well-built man in green pants and he had…a third eye?  
  
"Run! Get out of here!" he was screaming at her but she couldn't comprehend. Just then he fired another blast. His hands formed a triangular position that seemed focused right on Cell.  
  
"W…who are you?!" she found her self screaming at the strange man. She could tell, even though he was overly muscular, that his power was nothing compared to Cell's and yet…he was holding him at bay. He screamed as he let another blast go.  
  
"RUN! YOU HAVE TO LEAVE!"   
  
How could he hold Cell back? His own energy is too weak to produce such a force. Then it dawned on her…his life energy? But why? Why would he use his own life to help her escape? She knew that if Cell got a hold of her he could complete his transformation which is a valid enough reason…but why was there concern in voice? Why should he yell to me with concern instead of hatred?   
  
Another scream and another blast jarred her from her thinking; she quickly went and grabbed 16 and began to fly away. As she was flying she took another quick look at the stranger who was already showing signs of great fatigue. She whispered a gentle 'Thank you' as she flew off with 16.  
  
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'This is great Tien, what the hell have you gotten yourself into?' The large three-eyed man was hovering above a large crater pondering over his recent actions. 'I remember back when I trained with the Crane master I was just like Cell in a way. Killing the innocent…my hands forever stained with their blood. Now I strive to fight what I used to be, trying to make amends for something that can never be forgiven.'  
  
He let out a small laugh as he prepared to fire again. His body tensed, he felt extreme heat flow through out his entire body. He felt all his muscles contract tightly as he fired a blast through his hands.  
  
'Men only think about their past right before they die.' He smiled to himself. 'Wouldn't be the first time now would it?' He thought back to his fight with Nappa. The monstrous Saiya-jin out classed him drastically, but that didn't matter. He had fought him with all he had, and gave his life to try and stop him.  
  
"You better stop that!" he heard Cell call from the abyss. He couldn't see him…but the mere presence of his energy was enough to make Tien sweat.  
  
'Ill just give up my life again, its all I can do to make up for the wrong I've done, its what I deserve after all…right?'  
  
He fired one more shot and felt himself go empty. He found himself falling to the ground. 'At least she escaped…for a moment there I thought she was too scared to move.' He smiled to himself as he continued to fall both to the ground and into unconsciousness. 'They are all just like me…raised to be something they didn't want to be…trained to do something they didn't want to do. I could see it in her eyes…a fighting soul, misguided and beautiful….' He looked at her figure in the distance, she was beautiful inside and out, a woman he could fall for…if his past had not been and he had not have to swear off women. 'It's my punishment for being stupid…for being too weak to know the truth…'  
  
All was black, he didn't feel his body hit the ground…he didn't feel anything at all.  
  
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"Who was that 16?" 18 was quickly flying away from the scene with her severely injured android friend.  
  
"His name is Tien, a friend of Goku's" the android ran through his data base of fighters for all the information on the three eyed man.  
  
"He's a human fighter with extraordinary power." He looked back at the direction of the island they were on. "I can barely read his power signature anymore…"  
  
She looked back as well and noticed the light from his blasts had stopped. "He gave up his life for this planet…for those he loved…for…for us." She bit her lower lip as the images of 17 being taken away from her flooded in. All they had wanted to be was normal…but because of him…they had lost everything. Their humanity, their childhood, their belief in anything good and just.  
  
"Goku has just took the human Tien and the namek Piccolo." The metallic voice of the bulky android shook 18 from her thoughts.  
  
"What do you mean? How could he have done that?"  
  
"I don't know, he just appeared there then left with the human and namek. Teleporting far away from here."  
  
"What about Cell? Teleported far away?" the green giant had confused her.  
  
"Cell is still there, and yes he took them some place far off in an instant."  
  
"So the human and namek are alright?"  
  
"Yes, I can still feel their power signature although they are both very weak."  
  
For some reason this made her slightly happy. She could blame it on the fact that she was unused to people, other than 17, protecting her. She could tell 17 was happy when Piccolo tried to help him with Cell. A comrade, just that word made her smile. Someone to help us, even if it might not be just for us. Just someone else to fight along side…to fight for the same reason. A friend in battle…a friend in general. Something they had never had, because all they had ever had…was each other.  
  
'But he's gone now, and 16 is hurt badly." She sighed gently as she landed on another nearby island. 'Who do I have now?' 


End file.
